Once upon a time, an American engineer took a pile of rubble and got himself into some trouble. His name is Eric Prokopi and this is the story.

Eric Prokopi had a vision, steeped in an idea that dinosaurs once wandered nearly every swamp, steppe and savannah on Earth. His vision seeks to honor dinosaurs and his mind sees dedicated intellectuals equipped with shovels, picks, toothbrushes and jewelers' loupes tenaciously excavating from a well-marked grid on the ground.

In his vision, scientists catalogue every tiny bit and section of bone, sealing the precious nibs into clear plastic vials. Meanwhile, the beasts are lovingly roused from millions of years of peaceful slumber and sealed into worthy vessels for transport. Heroic teams reassemble the bones into museum-quality displays. Exotic, polyphonic Latin and Greek prefixes and suffixes identify each specimen.

For a time, Eric focused his attention on a dinosaur species known as Tyrannosaurus Bataar. This species is said to be similar to a Tyrannosaurus Rex, the A-List celebrity of the dinosaur world. Speaking of A-List celebrities, Nicolas Cage and Leonardo DiCaprio got into a bidding war (Miller, 2013) over a Tyrannosaurus Bataar skull that had been processed and preserved by Prokopi and placed on the auction block in 2007.

Rewarding the commercial paleontological efforts, Nicolas Cage won the auction for the tidy sum of $270,000 US Dollars (Miller, 2013) which provided Eric Prokopi with the incentive and funding to pursue the next stage of his vision – assembling an entire Tyrannosaurus Bataar skeleton. The vision had transitioned from a dream into a business enterprise.

Forbes magazine outlined Eric Prokopi’s vision quest as a business venture; describing how Prokopi paid $200,000 US Dollars to move three shipping freight containers filled with Mongolian rock through Great Britain to the United States (Pavlo, 2014). The containers were heading to Eric’s home in Gainesville, Florida.

Enlisting the assistance of his wife, Amanda, Eric dumped more than three tons of rocks in the backyard of their home and the couple began working on the project. Eric and Amanda expended thousands of hours engineering, framing, and assembling the bits and chunks of rock and bone (Parry, 2012). They crafted a statuesque Tyrannosaurus Bataar skeleton standing over eight feet tall with a flowing serpentine length of twenty-four feet.

The Prokopi Tyrannosaur was applauded as a masterpiece. The New York Times described its appeal as an immediate, "intense interest" (Moynihan, 2012) and the auction value of the skeleton shot up to just over one million US Dollars. Unfortunately, this masterpiece was about to become monster run amok. Within days of the unveiling, the Tyrannosaurus Bataar would wreck Eric Prokopi's life.

American paleontologist Mark Norrell and Canadian paleontologist Philip Currie inspected Prokopi's Tyrannosaurus Bataar. They called the specimen a Tarbosaurus, to repudiate its tyrannosaur prestige and amplify it as a Mongolian native species. At an international press conference on June 6, 2012, Norrell and Currie reported that based upon the colors of the bones, especially in the cracks and fissures, the specimen was most certainly excavated from the Gobi Desert in Mongolia (Parry, 2012).

By blowing the whistle, Norrell and Currie announced to Mongolia and the entire international community that Eric Prokopi was a bone-smuggling, black-marketing fossil-poacher. Kirk Johnson, Chief Curator of the Denver Museum of Nature & Science clarified the crux of the matter, “Mongolia owns all its fossils, not like the US, where people can dig up fossils on their private land and own them. The fact [that] it is here means a law was broken" (Parry, 2012).

The Mongolian government demanded immediate seizure of the skeleton with any and all other vertebrate fossils originating from the Gobi Desert. The US Government agreed and charged Prokopi with several counts of felony bone-smuggling, black marketing and a fossil-poaching (Williams, 2014).

Michael McCullough, the attorney representing Eric Prokopi, described the dinosaur skeleton as an amalgam of fossilized bones upon a metal frame; the bones came from "at least two, most likely many" creatures (Francescani, 2012). US District Judge P. Kevin Castel declared that the specimen was a “Frankenstein model of a dinosaur with parts of several dinosaurs" (Francescani, 2012).

But then again, all dinosaur skeletons are amalgamated Frankenstein assemblies of bones, rocks, plaster and plastic. By that standard, Prokopi’s dinosaur fulfilled his vision. By engineering the framework, shaping the individual bones and assembling this specimen from the three tons of rocks and bones in his backyard. Dedicated to the vision, months and months of work, motivated by a million-dollar-payday ensured that a dinosaur would inevitably emerge from the heap.

Eric was eventually sentenced to three-months in prison for this international smuggling crime. Eric and Amanda Prokopi divorced, largely due to the financial, familial and marital stress (Pavlo, 2014) brought forth from the federal charges and professional ruin. Nicolas Cage even surrendered the 2007 T-Bataar skull to US authorities (Rich, 2015) to avoid the pressures of shame from Hollywood and Mongolia for possession of a fossil-poacher’s prize.

Apparently, Mongolia still needed some help. Prokopi’s tyrannosaur was a vision quest, a custom-engineered specimen that did not follow a replicable pattern of nature. When the specimen arrived in Mongolia, it was going to be the centerpiece of Mongolia’s paleo-tourism and dinosaur museum display. Alas, Mongolia could not rebuild Eric’s vision. US federal authorities strongly encouraged Prokopi to train Mongolian paleontologists (Pavlo, 2014) to reassemble the Tyrannosaurus Bataar.

Eric Prokopi complied and the Tyrannosaurus Bataar was repatriated and reassembled. This was, after all, his story of vision.

_______________________________Works Cited

Miller, Julie. “Nicolas Cage Outbid Leonardo DiCaprio for a Dinosaur Skull That May Have Been Stolen.” Vanity Fair. Web. October 29, 2013. Retrieved from https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2013/10/nicolas-cage-leonardo-dicaprio-dinosaur-skull

Moynihan, Colin. “Man Admits to Smuggling Asian Fossils of Dinosaurs.” The New York Times. Web. December 27, 2012. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/28/nyregion/man-pleads-guilty-to-illegally-importing-dinosaur-skeleton.html

“Chilesaurus almost looks like it was stitched together from different animals, which is why it baffled everybody,” said Matthew Baron, a PhD student in Cambridge’s Department of Earth Sciences and the paper’s joint first author.

“Before this, there were no transitional specimens – we didn’t know what order these characteristics evolved in,” said Baron. “This shows that in bird-hipped dinosaurs, the gut evolved first, and the jaws evolved later – it fills the gap quite nicely.”

That's a fantastic piece of fiction Verbs and adverbs transposed to CAPITALS to illustrate my point

A ‘Frankenstein’s monster’ dinosaur MAY be the missing link between two major dinosaur groups,

Their results, reported in the journal Biology Letters, SUGGEST that Chilesaurus EFFECTIVELY fills a large gap between two of the major dinosaur groups, and shows how the divide between them MAY have happened.

Chilesaurus ALMOST looks like it was stitched together from different animals,

Earlier research SUGGESTED that this peculiar dinosaur belonging to the group Theropoda, the ‘lizard-hipped’ group of dinosaurs that includes Tyrannosaurus, but the new study SUGGESTS that it was PROBABLY a very early member of a completely different group,

So absolutely nothing but conjecture, but here is the kicker...

“Before this, there were no transitional specimens – we didn’t know what order these characteristics evolved in,” said Baron. “This shows that in bird-hipped dinosaurs, the gut evolved first, and the jaws evolved later – it fills the gap quite nicely.”

“Its weird mix of features places it in a key position in dinosaur evolution and HELPS to show how some of the really big splits between the major groups MIGHT have come about.”

It certainly does "fill the gap quite nicely." a fantastic piece of fiction.

What about megalodon, the giant shark? I live on the eastern shore of Maryland, near the Chesapeake Bay. I had recently seen a video of scientist finding meg teeth along the Chesapeake. The kicker is my mother, when I was a child, was planting flowers in our front yard and dug one of these giant shark teeth up. Now the location where I lived was on an island in the Chesapeake Bay. The tooth was black and grey so it was certainly old and it would have certainly been a very long time since salt water would have covered this location. It would have had to have been very old as Maryland and the Chesapeake have been colonized since the beginning of America so it can safely be said the location has been above the water for hundreds of years. The tooth was no more than a foot or two deep. I can't remember how deep the hole was exactly but I was outside with her when she unearthed it. It was absolutely massive too. Palm sized.

Caliph wrote:What about megalodon, the giant shark?I had recently seen a video of scientist finding meg teeth along the Chesapeake. The kicker is my mother dug one of these giant shark teeth up on an island in the Chesapeake Bay.

The tooth was black and greyit was certainly oldit would have been a very long time since salt water covered this location.The tooth was a foot or two deep.Palm sized.

Who knows, it been 30 years at least. My mother wasn't very educated to be honest. She was a seamstress and over the years we moved around a lot. At the time neither of us knew about megalodon. Hell, I was probably 4-5. It was just assumed to be a huge shark tooth. It was only later in life after seeing others and that video that I realized what my mother had found.

The point being is for it to have been there the water had to have covered the island and that at least huge sharks, larger than what we have now, had to have existed. That doesn't prove dinosaurs existed by any means but there are old things under the ground.

Yeah, I agree. I don't believe in dinosaurs in the T-rex sense. It's just the shark tooth I know was real. Ergo, at some point a very large shark existed. It makes sense just looking at the blue whale and the size of it. I'm just not sure on the timeline and how everything fits together. Do you believe that there were prehistoric creatures such as saber tooth tigers and such?

Mixed martial arts superstar Georges St-Pierre is regarded as one of the greatest champions in the history of the sport, but there’s something he loves even more than fighting: dinosaurs and prehistoric beasts. Now, in his first ever break from the ring, Georges is embarking on a globetrotting journey into the heart of modern palaeontology.

Premiering April 14th at 9E/P (2016) on HISTORY, the special television event The Boneyard with Georges St-Pierre sees the iconic athlete live out his childhood dream by tracking down the most vicious predators to ever walk the earth. Over two exciting half hour specials, Georges’ off-grid adventure takes him from the badlands of South Dakota, to the swamps of Alabama, to Argentina’s dinosaur graveyard, Patagonia, in order to reveal the truth about prehistoric life.

With a passionate host, exotic locales and gripping adventure, The Boneyard with Georges St-Pierre promises to be badass!

(From FoxSports.com)Apr 7, 2016

- GEORGES ST-PIERRE GOES DIGGING FOR DINOSAURS IN NEW TV SERIES -

Georges St-Pierre may not be ready to pursue another UFC title, but he’s happy to go digging for dinosaurs in a new TV series he’s hosting for the History Channel in Canada.

The series is called "The Boneyard" with Georges St-Pierre and from the sound of things he’s putting down his gloves and picking up a shovel as he goes looking around the world for fossils from the greatest beasts ever to roam the Earth.

From the sound of things, St-Pierre was very excited to get the chance to go looking for dinosaurs all over the world in this two-part special debuting April 14.

"The Boneyard" with Georges St-Pierre sees the iconic athlete live out his childhood dream by tracking down the most vicious predators ever to walk the Earth. Over two half-hour specials, Georges’ off-grid adventure takes him from the badlands of South Dakota, to the swamps of Alabama, to Argentina’s dinosaur graveyard, Patagonia, in order to reveal the truth about prehistoric life."

St-Pierre’s love of studying prehistoric life isn’t just for this special on the History Channel either.

Back in 2010, St-Pierre said that while he doesn’t watch much sports on television, he loves a good documentary or television show about prehistoric life, particularly studying dinosaurs.

"Seriously, I’m into paleontology. That’s the study of prehistoric life. I’m into philosophy. And psychology too. You know that the Tyrannosaurus Rex was found with feathers? Yes, feathers!" St-Pierre proclaimed.

"When I train, I love to take time off and fly to the Natural History Museum or an exhibition. I just love that. When you know your past, it will help you with your future. That’s why most of my friends are not fighters. Most of my friends are nerds like me. That’s why I have a hard time finding a girlfriend. I need someone to talk science with."

So while the rest of the world wonders if St-Pierre is ever going to come back to the UFC, he’s more interested in traveling around the world "Jurassic Park" style and trying to find some bones to dig up.

St-Pierre vs. T-Rex coming soon to a television near you.

(From MMA Website ScrapDigest.com)Sep 3, 2016

- TOP TEN UFC STARS WITH TALENTS OUTSIDE THE OCTAGON -

Georges St. Pierre knows everything there is to know about dinosaurs and prehistoric life. It has just been a hobby of his for some time and he’s now being recognized as somewhat of an expert on the topic.

And because he’s Georges St. Pierre he went from enjoying shows on dinosaurs to hosting a show on dinosaurs. The History Channel produced 5 episodes of “the Boneyard with Georges St. Pierre”.

(From MMA Website BloodyElbow.com)Apr 18, 2016

- WHAT EXCITES GSP? 'A WOMAN OF COURSE, DINOSAURS, AND THE VIOLENCE OF THE OCTAGON' -

Georges St-Pierre let Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour know what the three things in life are that excites him: women, dinosaurs and violence of the Octagon.

Fighters live exciting lives, whether or not they deny it. Some will say that, other than training, they don't do much at all. But if you are a professional cage fighter, you live an exciting life, no matter what.

Former UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre stopped by The MMA Hour on Monday to discuss the possibility of a return to active mixed martial arts competition. With that being said, he was able to sneak in a list of the three things in life that excite him.

"There is three things in life that excite me," he told Ariel Helwani. "There's a woman of course, dinosaurs and the violence of the Octagon."

While still on hiatus (or retirement) from MMA, St-Pierre recently launched his own television show on the History channel. The Boneyard premiered last week and, according to History.ca, this is what it's about: "The Boneyard with Georges St-Pierre sees the iconic athlete live out his childhood dream by tracking down the most vicious predators to ever walk the earth. Over two exciting half hour specials, Georges’ off-grid adventure takes him from the badlands of South Dakota, to the swamps of Alabama, to Argentina’s dinosaur graveyard, Patagonia, in order to reveal the truth about prehistoric life."

GSP's Instagram:

GSP visiting with the Curator in Vertebrate Palaeontology and Overseer of Dinosaur Research at The Royal Ontario Museum, Dr. David Evans:

Having been indoctrinated in the old lie about dinosaurs being the source of petroleum I can now say as an adult, and having worked in the oil industry, that sort of "bullshit" is just that... "bullshit". There simply were not enough animals around to suddenly die and miraculously Shazam!!!.. turn into oil over millions of years. I'll lean towards the abiotic theory of oil and say that its a natural phenomena and that organic processes are in action to "produce" petroleum much like any other natural process. The earth creates it! Its the only way to explain why we in our industry can find more and more deposits of oil on the tiny bits of land we have bothered to explore. There are no shortages only refinery limitations! That's purely a man-made problem and not natures doing.

As it so happens I was looking through a family members photos on facebook who lived in the same area I did as a kid and still does actually. I came across some photos she has up showing some of the arrowheads from the natives that used to live in the region as well as the big ass teeth I referred too. I started wondering however if those teeth were actually a spearhead but they seem unwieldy. This isn't the one my mother found but it is of the same type and from the same island in the Chesapeake bay. If they are teeth as we are told, they are authentic whatever they are, that was one big ass fish.